Wet Soil- Recommended Plants and Ground Cover

Q: We have a water detention facility running through our backyard. A lot of our yard is unusable due to soggy soil. Can you suggest a ground cover that we could use to soak up water enough to walk and run there?

A: There are several plants that tolerate soggy spots. They don’t exactly “soak up” water from wet soil. To do that you’d need more leaf surface than plants can provide.

One solution would be to add enough soil to the area to make a “living/playing space” having a bog beside it. Use plants from the list to beautify the wet area.